A Real American Hero (toyline)
The A Real American Hero (RAH) toy series produced well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. It is one of the longest running toy franchises. The Toys The RAH figures were 3.75 inches tall, at roughly 1:18th scale. Throughout the original toy line production from 1982 through 1994, figure construction remained relatively the same. The most notable changes were the second series' addition of "swivel-arm" articulation in 1983 (initial figures had "straight arms"), and the fourth series' ball joints replacing the former swivel necks, both drastically increasing a figures poseability. Likely inspired by the success of Kenner's Star Wars line of action figures, Hasbro designed vehicles and playsets to be used with the figures. They were often influenced by theoretical or real military technologies that were being developed during the 1980s, or actually existed at some point in time. Some examples are the G.I. Joe Skystriker XP-14 fighter plane based on the F-14 Tomcat, the Cobra Rattler, similar to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, and the Dragonfly, modeled on the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter. Examples of similar army equipment include the MOBAT tank, which resembled the M-48/M-60 series of US battle tanks and the Mobile Missile System (MMS), which was a carbon copy of the MIM-23 HAWK surface-to-air (SAM) missile system. It should also be noted that there was also a distinct science-fiction element to the line, which seemed to increase as the line went on, with toys like the Battleforce 2000 and the Star Brigade series. Fans have debated the impact of this trend on the line's declining popularity and eventual cancellation in 1994, but other contributing factors, such as the lack of a television series and competition from popular new toylines likely had a more drastic effect. Hasbro.com officially announced a new line of "25th Anniversary" 3 3/4" G.I. Joe figures on January 18th, 2007. Hasbro has stated that the figures will be "all new sculpts and the most detailed and articulated G.I. Joe figures ever!" Line History 1982 The first thirteen characters were introduced in carded packs while a few others were bundled with vehicles. The launch of the toy line was supported by a comic series from Marvel Comics and a series of animated commercials, several of which advertised the comic itself. As mentioned above, the first series of action figures had straight arms with elbow joints. While it is common for many characters to share the same mold for producing a body part, it is much more noticeable here as there are only few characters thus far, many of whom shared head sculpts. Despite these limitations, the new toy line was a success. 1983 to 1985 With the success of the first line of toys, Hasbro followed the next year with more new characters and filled them up with more original body part designs. In 1983, "swivel-arm battle grip" articulation and some extra tweaking were added to the new characters as well as the originals, in order to make them more poseable. In 1985, the bottom of the action figures' heads were given a ball joint which made the figures' heads the ability to look up and down. The years from 1983 to 1985 are considered by many to be the golden years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. There were two five-part miniseries followed by a popular animated series, and the comic was one of Marvel's most successful series at the time. Many of the most popular characters were introduced around this time. Vehicles and playsets became bigger and seemed to top the design of the previous year, culminating in 1985's impressive USS Flagg playset, an aircraft carrier that measured 7 ½ feet long. 1986 Like Hasbro's other main franchise at the time, Transformers, G.I. Joe saw its popularity peak around this time but at the same time, it would be the last year that it would receive most of its multimedia support. This was to be the final year of the Sunbow cartoon series, which was a prime component of G.I. Joe's marketing. This year is also notable for the overhauling of toy packaging. The most noticeable is the change in the background for the artwork that accompanies them, as the familiar explosion background in the card artwork was replaced with a pixilated pattern of red, yellow and white. Both the Joe and Cobra factions received new commanders to lead their teams, and many of the new characters were created to replace previously phased out figures. Specifically, new United States Marine Corps, U.S. Navy SEAL, a US Army Ranger, medic, laser trooper, snow trooper and Cobra infantryman characters were featured. 1987 The long awaited G.I. Joe: The Movie was intended to be released theatrically but the box office failures of two movies tied to Hasbro franchises led it to become a direct-to-video feature. It met with mixed reviews. Introducing a heavy science-fiction/fantasy element to Cobra, known as Cobra-La, it was intended to set up the status quo for Sunbow's intended third season of the animated series. Two of the largest playsets of the line were introduced: the G.I. Joe Defiant space shuttle and the Mobile Command Center. Before the end of the year, the G.I. Joe special team Battleforce 2000 was introduced in time for Christmas. 1988 Even without an animated series, G.I. Joe continued to sell well. A new enemy, Destro's Iron Grenadiers was introduced. The new Cobra line-up is composed mainly of Viper-type henchmen. Issue # of the comics series celebrated the 25th anniversary of the G.I. Joe toy line in general. Another G.I. Joe sub-group is introduced before the year's end: Tiger Force, a line of classic characters and vehicles re-colored with Tiger-stripe camoflage patterns. 1989 Classic character nostalgia seemed to play a factor in 1989. The relative success of Tiger Force the year before inspired them to come up with two teams with similar themes, Slaughter's Marauders and Python Patrol. By this time however, the lack of an animated series was taking its toll on the toy line's performance. In response, DiC Entertainment picked up the rights to produce a new G.I. Joe television series beginning with a five-part miniseries. 1990 The lackluster performance of 1989 convinced Hasbro to scale back on production. They concentrated on the action figure line-up and reduced the number of new vehicles for that year. The timely premiere of the new animated series would prove instrumental in giving the toy line another lease on life. In time for this renewed success is a slightly redesigned G.I. Joe logo. 1991 to 1992 Once more, Hasbro concentrated on action figures rather than vehicles, and coming up with new gimmicks for them. Special teams such as Ninja Force, Eco-Warriors and Star Brigade were introduced. The second animated series lasted for only one more season before being cancelled. This is also the timeline that some fans who grew up with G.I. Joe were in High School & started losing interest in G.I. Joe due to some of the more "unrealistic" aspects. 1993 to 1994 In the final two years of the A Real American Hero line, characters who were not part of any sub-group were branded as part of the all-encompassing Battle Corps. The background for the card art was replaced by lines of laser design. The Star Brigade sub-series was revamped with a more science-fiction type storyline involving an extra terrestrial enemy, the Lunartix Empire. The popular videogame Street Fighter II managed to become part of the G.I. Joe line up as Hasbro bought the toy rights to the popular video game characters. External links * Official website * Yo Joe! The 3 3/4" G.I. Joe Collector's Site * The Complete Guide to G.I. Joe - detailed reference site * JMM's G.I. Joe Comics Home Page * Joe*Battlelines - Daily News, G.I. Joe figure & comic reviews, and forums * Official Trading Card Game (TCG) site * G.I. Joe at TV.com * G.I. Joe at the Internet Movie Database * G.I. Joe TCG fan-authored expansion sets and community * The Ultimate Snake-Eyes Tribute Site * JoeGuide.com - G.I. Joe cartoon guide * Collectors helping collectors find the newest Joes * Canadian fan community and forum Category:Toys